The second round of bidding has just been announced to make regional air connectivity further a reality and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has awarded 325 routes to fifteen airline and helicopter operators.
Under the scheme of UDAN (Due Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) scheme 25 new airports and 31 new helipads have been announced to connect the existing network.
A total of nineteen Indian states will benefit from UDAN-II. Sikkim will get much flights to connect its Pakyong with Delhi, Kolkata and Guwahati. Uttarakhand will get fifteen airports. A Kargil airport will also come up for general people and timeline is about six months for most of the new routes.
Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha said, “There has been an astounding increase in regional aviation and an explosion of connectivity in previously unserved areas since the commencement of the UDAN programme one-and-a-half years ago.”
In the first phase bidding Air Deccan and Air Odisha Aviation were the big winner grabbing lion’s share while in the second the maximum has been based by Interglobe and SpiceJet.
In the helicopter segment the Pawan Hans has gained the most in UDAN 2.
Air Deccan and Air Odisha Aviation however have not yet started the services in many routes.
The scheme is partly funded by AAI with Rs 200 crore in the current fiscal and more Rs 500 core in the next fiscal.
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